#webdubois — Public Fediverse posts
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Important American History Moments That Happened in August
African American history is American history, and August includes several major turning points in the nation’s political, cultural, labor and civil-rights story.
From the arrival of Africans at Point Comfort in 1619 to the March on Washington in 1963, the month includes moments of achievement, resistance, tragedy and transformation. August also marks the anniversaries of the Voting Rights Act, Thurgood Marshall’s Supreme Court confirmation and the birth of the nation’s first African American president.
Here are some of the most important African American history dates to remember in August.
August 4, 1961: Barack Obama Was Born
Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961. He became the 44th president of the United States and the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office when he was inaugurated in January 2009.
Obama served two terms as president, from 2009 to 2017. His election represented a historic milestone nearly 150 years after the abolition of slavery and more than four decades after the Voting Rights Act became law.
Learn more from the Obama White House Archives.
August 6, 1965: The Voting Rights Act Was Signed
President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965.
The landmark legislation prohibited racially discriminatory voting practices, including literacy tests used to prevent Black citizens from registering to vote. It also authorized federal intervention in jurisdictions with documented histories of discrimination.
The law followed years of organizing and sacrifice by civil-rights activists, including the voting-rights campaign and marches in Selma, Alabama.
Read the Voting Rights Act at the National Archives.
August 9, 1936: Jesse Owens Won His Fourth Olympic Gold Medal
Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin as a member of the United States 4-by-100-meter relay team.
Owens also earned gold medals in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and long jump. His achievements challenged Nazi Germany’s claims of Aryan racial superiority and established him as one of the most accomplished athletes in Olympic history.
Owens returned to a segregated United States, where he continued to face racial discrimination despite his international success.
August 17, 1887: Marcus Garvey Was Born
Marcus Mosiah Garvey was born in Jamaica on August 17, 1887.
Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and became one of the early 20th century’s most influential advocates for Black nationalism, Pan-Africanism and economic independence.
His movement encouraged people of African descent around the world to take pride in their heritage, build Black-owned institutions and pursue political and economic self-determination.
August 18, 1920: The 19th Amendment Was Ratified
The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920, prohibiting the federal government and states from denying voting rights based on sex.
Although the amendment represented an important victory, it did not guarantee equal access to the ballot for all women. Black women, particularly those living in the South, continued to confront poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation, violence and other discriminatory barriers.
Black women remained central to the continuing struggle for voting rights, which eventually helped produce the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Explore the 19th Amendment through the National Archives.
August 20, 1619: Africans Arrived at Point Comfort
The arrival of Africans at Point Comfort in the English colony of Virginia is traditionally commemorated on August 20.
Approximately 20 Africans were brought to Virginia aboard the English privateer White Lion in late August 1619. The event became an important moment in the development of racialized slavery in English North America.
The date should be understood within a broader history. Africans were present in other parts of the Americas and North America before 1619, and historians continue to examine the status and experiences of the Africans who arrived in Virginia.
August 21, 1831: Nat Turner’s Rebellion Began
Nat Turner and a group of enslaved people began an uprising in Southampton County, Virginia, on August 21, 1831.
Turner, an enslaved preacher, believed he had been called to lead people out of slavery. The rebellion became one of the most consequential uprisings by enslaved people in United States history.
Authorities responded with executions and widespread violence against Black residents. Southern lawmakers also imposed more restrictive laws designed to control the movement, education and religious activities of enslaved and free Black people.
Learn more from the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
August 25, 1925: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters Was Organized
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was organized in 1925 under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph.
Pullman porters performed demanding work while facing low wages, long hours and racial discrimination. Their union became a pioneering force in the Black labor movement and eventually secured a landmark collective-bargaining agreement.
The Brotherhood’s organizing helped connect economic justice, workers’ rights and the emerging civil-rights movement.
Explore the history of the Pullman porters through the National Park Service.
August 27, 1963: W.E.B. Du Bois Died
Scholar, author and civil-rights leader W.E.B. Du Bois died in Ghana on August 27, 1963, one day before the March on Washington.
Du Bois was a co-founder of the NAACP and an influential advocate for civil rights, higher education and Pan-African unity. His writings examined race, democracy, economics and the experiences of Black Americans.
His death came as a new generation of activists prepared to gather in Washington to demand jobs, equality and freedom.
August 28, 1955: Emmett Till Was Murdered
Emmett Till, a 14-year-old Black teenager from Chicago, was abducted and murdered while visiting relatives in Mississippi on August 28, 1955.
His mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, made the courageous decision to hold an open-casket funeral. Images showing the brutality inflicted on her son were published by Black media outlets and seen around the world.
Till’s murder and the acquittal of the two white men charged with the crime helped galvanize a new generation of civil-rights activists.
Read Emmett Till’s story from the Smithsonian.
August 28, 1963: The March on Washington Took Place
Approximately 250,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963.
The demonstration brought national attention to employment discrimination, segregation, voting rights and the need for comprehensive civil-rights legislation. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his historic “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
The march became one of the defining events of the Civil Rights Movement and helped build momentum for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Explore the March on Washington through the National Park Service.
August 30, 1967: Thurgood Marshall Was Confirmed to the Supreme Court
The United States Senate confirmed Thurgood Marshall as an associate justice of the Supreme Court on August 30, 1967.
Marshall became the first African American to serve on the nation’s highest court. Before joining the Supreme Court, he was a leading civil-rights attorney who successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
Marshall served on the Supreme Court from 1967 until 1991.
View the Senate’s historical record.
Why August 28 Is Especially Important in Black History
August 28 stands out as an exceptionally consequential date in African American history.
Emmett Till was murdered on August 28, 1955. Eight years later, the March on Washington brought approximately 250,000 people to the nation’s capital. W.E.B. Du Bois had died in Ghana just one day before the march.
The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture has highlighted August 28 because of the number of major events connected to Black history that have occurred on that date.
Keep Learning About African American History
These anniversaries provide opportunities to learn about the people and movements that transformed the United States. They also remind us that progress resulted from sustained organizing, courage, creativity and sacrifice.
Raleigh residents can continue exploring African American history through local museums, historic sites, libraries, archives and community organizations throughout the year.
Follow DoRaleigh.com for everything Raleigh, including local history, community events, government news and cultural coverage.
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#AfricanAmericanHistory #BarackObama #BlackHistory #BlackLaborHistory #CivilRightsMovement #DoRaleigh #EmmettTill #JesseOwens #MarchOnWashington #MarcusGarvey #NatTurner #News #RaleighHistory #ThurgoodMarshall #VotingRightsAct #WEBDuBois -
Barbie and B-9 discuss W.E.B. Du Bois' work, during Black History Month. #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #blm #blacklivesmatter #history #the1619project #uncletomscabin #blackauthors #WEBDuBois #doll #dolls #dollcollector #dollcollectors #dollphotographer #dollphotographers #dollphotography #lostinspace #b9 #miniature #miniatures #collector #collectors
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#WMPG honors #BlackHistoryMonth
"WMPG recognizes Black History Month with special programming throughout the month of February, highlighting the voices, music, history, and lived experiences of Black artists, activists, and storytellers.
Tune in to hear programs that celebrate Black creativity and resilience across genres and generations, from music that shaped movements to conversations that deepen our understanding of the past and present."
Segments include:
#MarshaPJohnson, #RobertLewis, #EarthaKitt, #MalcomX, #AlvinAiley, #BobGreen, #ChadwickBoseman, #DukeEllington, #LewisLatimer, #AudreLord, #ATribeCalledQuest, #OtisRedding, #NelsonMandela, #GarzaCullorsTometi, #LeslieOdomJr, #NinaSimone, #AudraMcDonald #BelHooks, #Beyonce, #FlorencePrice, #JamesBaldwin, #MuhammadAli, #ScottJoplin, #GraceVenuzaRogers, #BobTheDragQueen, #GordonParks, #KobeBryant, #WEBDubois, #BarackObama, #AudreLorde, #Lizzo, #KatherineJohnson, #ClaudetteColvin, #RhiannonGiddens, #TaranaBurke, #TeresaKachindamoto, #ShirleyChisholm, #ThurgoodMarshall, #HarrietTubman, #JohnBrownRusswurm, #StevieWonder, #LeadBelly, #MaryMcleodBethune, #ShirleyChisolm, #LeonardCummings, #MaeJemison, #BadBrains, #CornelWest, #MaconBollingAllen, #SpikeLee, #BeverlyGlennCopeland, #AngelaDavis, #SojournerTruth, #HankAaron, #BillieHoliday, #GeraldTalbot, #TrevorNoah, #JosephineBaker, #JackieRobinson, #ArethaFranklin, #ToniMorrison, #RobertLewis, #IndigoArtsListen:
https://www.wmpg.org/wmpg-honors-black-history-month/#BlackHistory #BlackArtists #BlackMusicians #BlackActivists #CommunityRadio #CollegeRadio
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#WMPG honors #BlackHistoryMonth
"WMPG recognizes Black History Month with special programming throughout the month of February, highlighting the voices, music, history, and lived experiences of Black artists, activists, and storytellers.
Tune in to hear programs that celebrate Black creativity and resilience across genres and generations, from music that shaped movements to conversations that deepen our understanding of the past and present."
Segments include:
#MarshaPJohnson, #RobertLewis, #EarthaKitt, #MalcomX, #AlvinAiley, #BobGreen, #ChadwickBoseman, #DukeEllington, #LewisLatimer, #AudreLord, #ATribeCalledQuest, #OtisRedding, #NelsonMandela, #GarzaCullorsTometi, #LeslieOdomJr, #NinaSimone, #AudraMcDonald #BelHooks, #Beyonce, #FlorencePrice, #JamesBaldwin, #MuhammadAli, #ScottJoplin, #GraceVenuzaRogers, #BobTheDragQueen, #GordonParks, #KobeBryant, #WEBDubois, #BarackObama, #AudreLorde, #Lizzo, #KatherineJohnson, #ClaudetteColvin, #RhiannonGiddens, #TaranaBurke, #TeresaKachindamoto, #ShirleyChisholm, #ThurgoodMarshall, #HarrietTubman, #JohnBrownRusswurm, #StevieWonder, #LeadBelly, #MaryMcleodBethune, #ShirleyChisolm, #LeonardCummings, #MaeJemison, #BadBrains, #CornelWest, #MaconBollingAllen, #SpikeLee, #BeverlyGlennCopeland, #AngelaDavis, #SojournerTruth, #HankAaron, #BillieHoliday, #GeraldTalbot, #TrevorNoah, #JosephineBaker, #JackieRobinson, #ArethaFranklin, #ToniMorrison, #RobertLewis, #IndigoArtsListen:
https://www.wmpg.org/wmpg-honors-black-history-month/#BlackHistory #BlackArtists #BlackMusicians #BlackActivists #CommunityRadio #CollegeRadio
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Thought today might be a good one to re-post something I'd put on another social network about #SolomonCarterFuller, often celebrated as the 1st Black psychiatrist, but whose place in #neurology and #neuroscience is underrecognized.
As a med student, Fuller attended a key event in the history of US neuropsychiatry: neurologist S. Weir Mitchell’s address to the AMPA (precursor to APA). Mitchell harshly critiqued the absence of a research program in asylum medicine. Asylums responded by setting up new labs; as autopsies were uncommon in the US compared to Europe, Fuller recognized that this new field presented more open opportunity to him as a Black MD, and came to lead a pathology lab at Westboro Hospital.
Like many US docs then, he sought more training in Europe. He studied German and in 1904 went to Munich, where he worked in Alzheimer's lab alongside Frederic #Lewy. He was treated more equitably there than in the US.
After his return to the US, Auguste D died in 1906 and #Alzheimer presented her case; that year Fuller presented one of the first accounts of neurofibrillary pathology to the AMPA. In 1912 Fuller published the 1st review of #AlzheimersDisease cases (including one of his own, the 9th overall) and the first English translation of Alzheimer's work.
In 1909, Fuller was invited to speak at #ClarkUniversity 20th anniversary; other invitees were a “little-known Viennese neurologist and his Swiss colleague” (Anne Harrington, Mind Fixers)—a turning point in US psychiatry. Fuller took interest in psychoanalysis & maintained correspondence w/ #Jung, Meyer & Adler.
Fuller trained a cohort of Black psychiatrists, who mentored others. He led the #BostonUniversity dept of neurology for 5y but underpaid and untitled; when a white assistant prof was named chair ahead of him he went into private practice. His death was commemorated by James B Ayer: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM195401212500316
In addition to these scientific connections, Fuller enjoyed close ties with other important historical figures. His wife Meta was herself an important sculptor championed by #Rodin & they were close with other leaders like #WEBDuBois & #PaulRobeson.
Neurologists and neuroscientists should celebrate Fuller as our colleagues in #psychiatry do. I recommend Mary Kaplan's lively biography Where My Caravan Has Rested, including an oral history that Fuller dictated to his son, to all. #BlackHistory #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackInNeuro